than the flour will absorb, let it brown, then add the gravy or stock. Season to taste, boil gently for about 15 minutes, add a little lemon-juice or vinegar to flavour, and pour the sauce round the meat.
Time.—Altogether, 1¼ hours. Average Cost, about 1s. 8d. Sufficient, 1 lb for 3 or 4 persons. Seasonable at any time.
1025.—MUTTON, CURRY OF. (Fr.—Kari de Mouton.)
Ingredients.—1 lb. of cooked mutton, ½ a pint of curry sauce (see No. 241), boiled rice.
Method.—Remove all skin and fat from the meat and cut it into small thin slices. Make the sauce as directed, let the meat remain in it for at least ½ an hour, then serve with well-boiled rice.
Time.—To re-heat the meat, ½ an hour. Average Cost, 1s. 6d. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. Seasonable at all times.
Note.—See "Veal, Curry of," "Chicken, Curry of," also "Indian Cookery."
1026.—MUTTON CUTLETS, TO PREPARE.
The best end of a neck of mutton must be selected for this purpose. Saw off the chine bone and the ends of the rib bones, leaving the part to be divided into cutlets about 4 inches long, but this must be determined by the size of the fillet or lean portion of the meat. The end of each bone must be scraped quite bare to the depth of about ¾ of an inch. A more even surface and a better shape may be obtained by beating them slightly with a wetted cutlet-bat or chopping-knife. When the mutton is large, 1 cutlet may be cut with a bone and 1 cutlet between each of the bones: when the cutlet frills are attached the appearance of the boneless cutlets is identical with the rest. Nearly all the fat must be trimmed off, and should be clarified and used for frying or making plain pastry and cakes, while the lean parts may be boiled down for gravy or sauce to be served with the cutlets, or when not required for this purpose they may be put into the stock pot.
Shepherds and their Flocks.—From the sheikh downwards, every one in a nomadic state of society is more or less a shepherd. The ancestors of the Israelites in the patriarchal age tended sheep, and until after the Egyptian Captivity, when the shepherd held a subordinate position, the occupation of tending flocks was undertaken not only by the sons, but also by the daughters of wealthy chiefs. Among the earlier Eastern nations sheep constituted an important part of their possessions. The first mention of sheep occurs (Gen. iv. 2) in connexion with Abel, who is mentioned as a "keeper of sheep." Both the adult and the lamb were used in sacrificial offerings. Many passages in the Bible indicate the magnitude of the pastoral riches of the Eastern people, for instance, the giving of a hundred sheep by Jacob to the children of Hamor as the price of a field, and the yearly tribute which the King of Israel received from the King of Moab, comprising a hundred thousand sheep, and a similar number of rams with their fleeces. The tendency of sheep to ramble necessitates the care of a shepherd, and it is no easy task to keep a flock within bounds; but the watchful shepherd, aided by his cleverly trained and intelligent dogs, manages to accomplish it without harassing the sheep. In the Highlands of Scotland, where the herbage is scanty, sheep farms are of wide extent, necessitating the services of numerous shepherds.
